IceBreakers – Traditional and Pathways

At the 26th April meeting, we had two different types of “icebreaker” which helped us to get introduced to and know a little better two of our members.

First, Kevin Dickson, with his “Changes”, delivered his speech from the Competent Communication Manual, whose objectives are “Speak before an audience; use existing speaking skills; introduce oneself to fellow club members”.

His was a classic piece: Kevin started telling how he worked as a paperboy when he was 10 years old, and how that job in the UK was different compared to the idea we have when we see it in the US movies. Then, he described how he spent a lot of time outside with his friends. He grew up and continued to study; he went to Aberdeen for his Masters in Psychology; he did different types of jobs to support himself during that period; he moved back to Edinburgh where he started working for the NHS -a full life, where “change” was a constant element of it.

In the past he never had a chance to study or attend courses in public speaking and leadership, and now he wants to change that situation. That is why he chose to be here and take some risks learning new things, instead of staying safely at home.

The highly-experienced Moira Beaton, after the numerous speeches she has delivered, has started the new Pathways program, and she delivered her icebreaker speech, in the “Presentation Mastery” program, entitled “Risk!!”. In this case, the objectives are: “Deliver a speech on any topic as an introduction to the club using any style that appeals”.

She remembered how she delivered her first speech in 2004 only after 6 weeks she attended the club, and she was nervous because she didn’t know what they would think of her after hearing what she had to say. She looked back at her evaluation written in her original CC manual, and noticed she was described as a “risk-taker”.

Maybe it was because, when she was very young, she left for Syria travelling in a car with a husband, a dog and everything they had. It was the beginning of a very intense period: in October 1973 she didn’t leave Damascus when the Yom Kippur war broke out; in 1974 she went to the Saudi Arabian desert and was stung twice by scorpions, then she moved to Oman and moved again, to Cyprus with her husband and two children,2 years after the Cyprus invasion; there, she ran a hospital and a restaurant. Twenty-five years after she left Scotland, she returned to the UK, and she started to study again, this time law in Glasgow.

After that first speech in 2004, she did many other things and now she wonders where this new icebreaker will lead her – maybe to other 14 years of Toastmasters?